If KL Rahul leads Lucknow Super Giants to their maiden IPL title, he will automatically be rewarded with a spot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, reckons head coach Justin Langer, who wants his team's national hopefuls to "concentrate" on doing well for the franchise first.
Rahul, who is coming back from a quadriceps injury and is not expected to keep wickets at the beginning of the IPL, is still not a certainty in the Indian T20 squad and only a good IPL with both the bat and gloves can seal the deal for him.
Asked how he would balance his skipper's personal ambition with the team's interests, Langer said it isn't all that complicated.
"If the team does well, everyone gets rewarded. If KL can captain LSG to the IPL title, that means he would have captained well, batted well and kept wickets well," Langer replied to a PTI query during a season-opening media interaction on Wednesday.
Apart from Rahul, the other serious T20 World Cup contender from LSG is leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
"The message for players, like KL or Bishi (Bishnoi) will be that the more they concentrate on playing well for LSG, their chances (of WT20 call-up) will increase."
Rahul is expected to link up with the team on Wednesday evening due to a flight delay but the former Australian opener didn't say a word about when the star player will start keeping.
"He has followed all the 'Return To Play' protocols and he has been hitting a lot of balls."
With foreign recruits Mark Wood and David Willey ruled out of the tournament, Lucknow Super Giants' pace bowling unit looks thin on experience.
Shivam Mavi, the injury-prone pacer, hasn't played competitive cricket since August 2023 while Delhi's talented tearaway quick Mayank Yadav was out of the entire Ranji Trophy season with a side strain.
Mohsin Khan, the find of the 2022 IPL, has had injury issues and Yash Thakur isn't very experienced at the tournament level.
"It is a very good observation that we lack some experience in pace department but there is an enormous talent. The pacers -- they all look fit, healthy and hungry.
"We need to manage them well not just at the start but through the whole tournament. Among pacers Naveen (ul Haq) has played a lot of T20 cricket," the 2021 T20 World Cup and multiple Ashes-winning coach, said.
The coach seemed mighty impressed with Mayank and said he seems to be a phenomenal talent with "serious pace".
Apart from Naveen, the other overseas fast bowler is Shamar Joseph, the West Indies sensation, who has won hearts with his performances in the recent two Tests in Australia.
However, with very little T20 experience even in the Caribbean Premier League, will he come in handy in IPL? Langer sounded bullish.
"He didn't have experience even before going into two Test matches," Langer sounded dismissive about the experience bit.
"I was commentating and I saw him take seven wickets in 37 degrees, 80 per cent humidity and a broken toe. He is an incredible athlete. Smile, spirit, athleticism and skill, he has got all those ingredients that you need to succeed. Another talented guy is Mayank."
Langer was also pretty confident about the spin bowling arsenal of his team, especially Bishnoi and the 41-year-old veteran leg-break bowler Amit Mishra.
Tamil Nadu's left-arm spinner M Siddharth has also caught the coach's attention.
"He (Bishnoi) is an outstanding bowler. I love his energy. I watched his training. There is no better pure leg-spinner than Mishi (Mishra's nickname). I saw young M Siddarth, who bowled a maiden over first-up in a training game. There is Krishnappa Gowtham."
Gautam Gambhir was the mentor of LSG before he joined KKR ahead of this season. Asked whether the fans can expect a face-off with the feisty former India player, Langer said there is only admiration for the work he did with the franchise.
"There is no face-off. I was disappointed when he left for KKR but he is a real hero in KKR. We have been good friends," said Langer, who had once conducted personalised coaching sessions for Gambhir in Perth, when he needed to sort out his game against the short ball.
"But then when we play DC, my good friend Ricky Ponting is the coach, in CSK, Stephen Fleming and Mike Hussey are friends."
For Langer, coaching an IPL team is quite similar to coaching an international team.
"It is only at domestic level that you get players for pre-season. At international level, players only assemble before the competition phase. So it is pretty similar." Having guided Australia to a T20 World Cup title, Langer said that he knows the "blue-print of success" but it will be important to execute the plans.
"I have been sleeping well for the past two years after I left coaching Australia. Now I will have sleepless nights in fitting so much talent in just 11 slots," he said referring to his forced break he had to take after leaving the Australia job for not getting a long-term contract following discontent among players.
